Welcome to CNBC Explains, where we dissect the complicated economics of our world — everything from stocks and corporate balance sheets, to international trade and government policy.
We are pleased to feature the work of
Salman Khan, founder of the Khan Academy and a whiz at making arcane topics easy to understand. We'll also be featuring reporting by anchors and editors around CNBC.
You may notice an orange icon around the website.
Any time you see the

icon, click to learn more about the topic being discussed.